


Wish

by lambkt



Category: Lore Olympus (Webcomic)
Genre: Birthday, Cake, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-24 23:56:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21108107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lambkt/pseuds/lambkt
Summary: It’s Hades’ birthday and as usual, he’s burying himself in work instead of facing it. That is until a small pink goddess crashes his pity party.





	Wish

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a once-off, but it turned into a multi chapter thing. Enjoy!

It was early when Persephone padded her way down the hall into the kitchen. She was still wiping the sleep from her eyes when she began pulling what she needed from the fridge. Milk, eggs, butter, baking soda. To reach the top shelf of the pantry she needed a stool, and only cursed once when it creaked a little too loud, then once more grabbing the flour upon realizing the bag was open, but only after spilling some of it on the floor. 

Warm smells of vanilla filled the air as the cake baked in the oven. Persephone used this time to get ready for work; quickly showering and cutting her hair to a length where it just barely kissed the bottom of her ears. Still wrapped neatly in a towel she returned just in time to take the cake out and place it on a cooling rack. 

Persephone dressed herself in a simple black pencil skirt, black heels, and a sage colored button down. She finished her look with a black blazer, safely tucking the black velvet box wrapped with an indigo bow into her inside pocket.

With the newly decorated cake placed carefully in a reusable cake box, she closed the door ever so quietly behind her, even though her roommate was still at work, and started towards the train. While normally she would fly, it was early enough the train to the Underworld wouldn’t be super overcrowded. She didn’t trust herself to fly while carrying something so delicate. _It all has to be perfect_, Persephone thought to herself. She needed to get there before Hades did.

The first train inbound to the Underworld left Olympus at 5:05a.m.; Persephone was still ten minutes early. As she sat, waiting, her fingers drummed along the surface of the box placed precariously on her knees. The nerves creeped up her spine, chilling her body as the first light of sunshine warmed Olympus. _What if he rejects my gift like last time?_ She huffed, rolling her shoulders back. _It’s his birthday, he can do what he wants_.

The train ride was eerily quiet, considering almost no one was in the car with her. A satyr read the paper on the opposite end, and a nymph scrolled her phone somewhere in the middle. The near silence allowed her insecurities to flood her mind; she absently traced the lines of the velvet box through the soft fabric of her blazer. 

_Technically_ she could ditch the cake in a trash can somewhere and continue on as normal since Hades hadn’t _officially_ told her about his birthday. It wouldn’t be a surprise to him if she didn’t know, since he understandably never told anyone. It had been Hecate who let it “slip.” Maybe it had been musings of a friendly conversation, or maybe it had been a part of some master plan. Hecate was aware of the ramifications of this, knowing full well that the day harbored nothing but ill feelings for the king, considering he had literally been _swallowed_. However, if anyone could replace the unhappy memories with at least one good one, it was Persephone. Maybe this was her gift to her dear friend. 

The elevator almost seemed to breathe along with her as it climbed the floors to ninety-nine, and with no elevator attendant Persephone could only watch the numbers as they ascended. She counted them out loud. When the doors opened, however, she became painfully aware that she wasn’t alone. 

Hades’ door sat ajar, the light from within spilling out onto the marble tiling before her. The warm glow looked almost out of place in the Underworld, mixing like oil and water with the neon lights streaming into the lobby from the large window to her left. Just as she was about to turn around, a deep baritone voice came from inside his office, a faint echo following it. 

“Hello?” Hades called out, having heard the ding of the elevator as it ricocheted against the walls of the silent building. 

Persephone was frozen. This hadn’t been a part of her plan. He wasn’t supposed to be here this early. She took a deep breath, stood up straight, and marched forward, pausing only to knock first, but still pushing the door open without waiting for an answer. 

The sight of Hades nearly caused her to audibly gasp. He sat at his desk, hunched over, and he looked so, so tired. His hair was a mess, sticking out at weird angles like he had been grasping at it for hours. The dress shirt he was wearing was wrinkled and his tie gave away the fact that it was the same suit he had on yesterday. To say he looked shocked to see her was an understatement. 

“Persephone?” 

“Hi,” she smiled, doing her best to keep the concern out of her voice and off her face. She made her was over to him, stopping to stand just in front of his desk. 

“W-what are you doing here?” He sat up straight, reaching to fix his tie. 

“I, um,” she stammered, “I heard it was your birthday.”

Hades stiffened. He went to great lengths to keep that secret. In fact, when he was with Minthe, even she didn’t know the exact day, and he liked to keep it that way. “How did you find out?” he asked carefully, frowning, trying to suppress every negative emotion that was bubbling to the surface. 

“That’s not important,” she shrugged, offering him a warm smile. “I was trying to get here before you, but it looks like you never left.” 

“I got caught up in something im-important,” he choked out a little too quickly. 

“You’re lying,” she accused, an eyebrow raised. 

“Running a realm is very difficult, little goddess,” Hades countered. The truth was the same as every year. Simply, he was avoiding the crushing loneliness that waited for him at home and the same nightmare that always stole precious sleep away from him. Work was easier, but he couldn’t bring himself to admit that out loud in an empty room, let alone to the beautiful creature standing before him. What would she think of him then? 

Hades adjusted himself awkwardly under her gaze, clearing his throat. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure?” he asked, his tone more elated than before, but his face still twisted in anxiousness.

“Well, I, um,” she started, but paused, now questioning the reason she came. The urge to reach out and smooth the worry lines between his strong eyebrows made her fingers twitch. Instead she placed the cake box gingerly in front of him. “I brought this for you.” 

Persephone pulled her lower lip between her teeth as she watched him. It took a few seconds for him to react, finally taking his eyes off her to look at what she placed in front of him. The box was an opaque plastic and looked as if it had seen some things. 

He looked up at her quizzically. “What is it?”

She let out a breathy laugh, and reached over to take the lid off. “It helps if you _open_ it.” 

The sight of what Persephone brought him nearly pulled his heart right of his chest. The cake was decorated with blueberries and blackberries on white frosting. Twigs of lavender had been carefully arranged along the tops and side of the round cake. In the center, scrawled in perfect cursive in blue icing, was “_Happy Birthday Hades!_” It was beautiful. He stared at the cake with his jaw dropped, unable to find the words. 

In his silence Persephone got restless. As she waited, her palms got sweaty, thinking of all the ways he could reject her in the moment. This isn’t what she expected. Her original plan was to leave everything on the receptionist’s desk with a note. Minthe had been gone for a week, replaced by a much quieter and less intimidating nymph, so she knew Hades would get it if she left it there. But now, now she was here, standing in front of the disheveled king, and he wasn’t saying anything. 

“Is it too much?” she asked finally. 

Hades blinked a few times before chuckling softly. When he looked up at her his eyes were full of tears. “Thank you,” he whispered. “This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.” 

She beamed, all of the nerves from earlier completely disappeared. He stood and she walked over to meet him, wrapping him in a tight hug. “Happy Birthday, Hades.” 

It took a moment for his brain to process beyond the warmth of her touch, but he finally forced his limbs to react. He hugged her back earnestly, taking solace in the fact that no one was around to see the lovesick look that flashed over his face when the small goddess wrapped her arms around him. 

To his dismay the hug didn’t last forever as he wanted, and she pulled back from him. The smile on her face somehow filled the emptiness he felt from the lack of her touch. 

“I have one more thing,” she chimed, reaching into the pocket of her blazer. 

“What?” He was stunned. _What have I done to deserve more than what she’s already given me?_ He tried to reach out to stop her, only to receive a glare from the little goddess that could turn a mortal to stone. He laughed then, holding his hands up in defense. 

Persephone pulled the box from her jacket, pausing only to fix the bow before presenting it to him with both hands. His breath hitched in his lungs and he got dizzy. The way she was looking up at him through her eyelashes, excitement painted across her face, almost caused him to come undone right there. Being on the receiving end of her gaze was enough of a gift, and he nearly wondered out loud as to why she bothered to give him anything else. This goddess would be the death of him.

Carefully Hades took the box from her and gently pulled at the tail of the bow, neatly placing it on his desk before pulling the box open with his long fingers. Persephone bit her lip when she knew he saw what was inside, holding her breath as she waited. 

Inside the box, nestled between soft silk, sat a pair of cufflinks. Two pomelia flowers suspended delicately in resin, each perched on a wood leaf that looked hand carved. _Did she make this for me?_ He clutched his chest in an attempt to keep his wildly beating heart contained. Maybe he was a stronger man than he realized, because he surely should have died of happiness by now. The tears that sprung to his eyes and fell down his cheeks couldn’t be stopped, but he couldn’t find it in him to care. 

Before Hades could find the words buried in his chest, two small pink hands cupped his face. As if he had been electrocuted he snapped up to meet the warm magenta eyes that were boring into him with concern. 

“Hades,” whispered Persephone, almost as if she were trying not to scare him. She used the pads of her thumbs to wipe away his tears. Seconds before she could start wondering about whether or not she crossed any lines with her gift his hands were covering hers. Her whole body burned at his touch and suddenly, the air seemed different, like it knew a secret it didn’t want to tell. In that moment her body yearned to know more, to feel his against hers, and if that moment never ended, so what? 

Persephone knew nothing of love, but had a pretty good guess that this what it. 

Hades removed a hand from hers, only to brush a strand of rapidly growing hair behind her ear and settle softly against her cheek. She leaned into his hand like she had been doing it all her life, and he smiled at her like she was the only being in the universe. 

“Thank you,” he whispered to her, finally, before pulling her into a tight embrace. 

With a heavy sigh Persephone settled against his chest, breathing him in. He smelled warm, like being curled around a fire as the snow fell. His body no longer hung so heavy in exhaustion, almost as if a new life had been breathed into it. Carelessly he ran his fingers through her hair, unconcerned with their closeness. 

Neither of them knew how long it had been before Persephone finally made the first move. Groggily she looked up at him with a smile, her arms wrapped lazily around his waist. 

“Hades, can I ask you something?” 

“Mm?” he hummed, tracing his fingertips from her temple down along her jaw, seeming to hesitate as he drew closer to her lips. 

Persephone shivered, wanting nothing more than to kiss the hesitation out of his fingers before finally finding his lips. She mentally scolded herself for thinking of Hades, _her boss_, like this, before remembering that he was waiting for her question while she lingered a second too long on the fantasy of kissing him. 

She cleared her throat, making both of them jump. “Why didn’t you leave last night?” 

Hades laughed uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, keeping the other securely around her waist, unwilling to feel her absence. “I just, I got caught up in a project.” 

“Why are you still lying?” she asked with less of an accusing tone this time, but a pout pulled at her mouth. 

_Fuck, why does she have to be so cute?_, thought Hades. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he admitted, his face drawing closer to hers. How he longed to kiss away the pout staining her lips. 

“I’m here for you,” she promised, simply. Her lips drifted closer to his, acutely aware of his hand around her waist and his warm breath setting her skin ablaze. 

“Kore,” he breathed, as if it was the last thing he would utter in his immortal life.

Their lips pressed together to a melody of their simultaneous, sharp intake of breath. They both froze for a moment, almost as if they had expected to wake up from their dream right before their lips met. In slow motion their bodies melted, responding eagerly to the sparks of the other’s touch, which was only further proof that they had been made for each other. Hades’ hand found itself tangled in Persephone’s now long, unbelievably soft hair, while she steadied herself against his broad chest, pushing herself up on her tip-toes in an attempt to get closer to him. Persephone hummed happily and Hades smiled against her mouth, quietly praying to every god he could think of, and every god he couldn’t remember, that there was no going backwards from this moment. 

The ding of the elevator pulled them apart.

Hades threw a nasty glare towards the door of his office, which had unfortunately been left open. The look in his eyes may have actually caused the door to go up in flames if it hadn’t been for the small pink hand that curled its way into his own. 

“It’s okay,” whispered Persephone with a reassuring smile, before she stepped away from him to smooth out her blazer. 

Before he could argue that no, it was in fact not okay, a timid knock pulled his eyes from her. 

“Your majesty?” asked a small voice. A full head of green curls poked around the frame of the door. 

Hades sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yes?” 

Without emerging completely from her place, her eyes darted between Persephone and the King of the Underworld. “Your meeting with the board starts in twenty minutes and Hecate is on line one for you,” she squeaked. 

Hades looked at Persephone from the corner of his eye. She was smiling sweetly at his secretary, looking awkward but keeping a professional distance. Her hands were going between twisting her hair and fidgeting with one of the buttons on her jacket. _What does this mean for us? Could it really be this easy?_ Hades needed to know, and he didn’t want to find out in his office. That settled it. 

“Cancel my meetings and tell Hecate I’ll call her tomorrow,” he commanded, a smile pulling at the corner of his lips. His eyes never left Persephone.

The nymph left without so much as a question, she hadn’t dared to challenge his authority yet, which he found refreshing. Persephone looked at him with wide, curious eyes, and he couldn’t help but laugh. 

“Would you like to get breakfast?” he asked.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
